MILITARY: Private in 2nd Battalion, NC commanded by Colonel John Armstrong, Company of Captain Elijah Moore.

Isaac married Mary, the daughter of a carpenter, Eleazer Quimby who lived in Bertie, NC. There is still some discussion if it was Eleazer or Isaac Quimby. Josie believed it was Isaac Quimby but there are no records in that area for an Isaac but there is for a carpenter named Eleazer. There was interaction between Eleazer Quimby and Isaac Sowell with deeds.

*** "Sewell's Roots", pages 36 and 40. It was requested that Quimby be included in generations to follow to show kinship.

The Sewell name became "Sowell" when Isaac lived in North Carolina perhaps the different pronunciations that the Scotch-Irish made of it made it sound like a pig to their disgust. (Note: In early 1800's the name was spelled "Seawell" in Sheet's History of the N. C. Baptists and Sandy Creek Baptist Association.) The pronunciation "Soo-well" continues in most sections of N. C. yet - 1966 - except the Army and the Navy call the name "See-well". *** DAR 0644531 - A669 submitted by Dorothy Dyson Irvin on ISAAC SOWELL. ***

The Pilot - Southern paper dated September 21, 1983 includes this article:

"Louise Seawell of Carthage, N. C. has done research on Isaac Sowell in the N. C. State Archives, Cumberland County deeds and tax lists, Moore County Court minutes, and Moore Couty Censuses 1790-1800.

"The exact date of the arrival of Isaac Sowell in the portion of Cumberland County, which in 1784 became Moore County, is not known, but we find a land deed dated January 7, 1772, recorded in Cumberland County, January Term 1772.

This deed shows that the 300-acre tract was purchased from Jacob McLendon for the sum of 55 pounds, and that the land was located on Black Branch near McLendons Creek called in the vicinity of Scotch Graveyard. This tract of land had been granted on December 5, 1760, to Thomas Knight, who sold it to Jacob McLendon on July 25, 1762, for 35 pounds proclamation money."

"Due to the limited records available, only two tax listings, those being for the years 1778 and 1780 in the district of Capt. William Seale, were found for Isaac Sowell in Cumberland County, List of Taxables." They had the following children: John, Margaret, William Abyhue, Asa, and Jesse.

It is also believed that there was another son, probably named Dempsey and another daughter, name not known. The children were born prior to Isaac's enlistment in 1782 in the service of North Carolina in the continental line during the American Revolution.

Isaac Sowell served as a private in the 2nd battalion of the North Carolina Regiment commanded by Colonel John Armstrong in the Company of Captain Elijah Moore. While encamped on Ashley Hill under the command of General Greene in South Carolina, he became ill and was sent to the General Hospital to regain his health, but he soon died there. The Muster Rolls show date of his absence from duty as November 25, 1782. He was buried on Ashley Hill Plantation, which is near Charleston, S. C.

The inventory of personal property which his wife filed at the May Term 1785, Moore County Court listed: One slave, 2 horses, 9 head of cattle, an oxen, hogs, and various other personal property and 300 acres of land.

On September 8, 1985, at a Seawell-Sowell Family Reunion at Friendship Baptist Church a memorial marker was dedicated to honor Isaac Sowell who gave his life while serving his country in the continenal line during the American Revolution.

"In 1772 Isaac Sowell purchased land in Moore County along McLendon's Creek as did Obadiah Sowell. A review of Bertie County, NC, tax lists in the 1750's reveals an Obadiah Sowell who beginning in 1757 is listed as paying for three tithables, i.e. male adults. In the 1759 list, Obadiah Sowell is listed with Isaac Sowell and Obadiah Sowell, Jr. as a family group. In 1782 Obadiah Sowell has returned to Bertie County. (This Obadiah is either Sr. or Jr. - Other Moore County materials claim Obadiah Sowell Sr. is buried in a Sowell cemetery in Moore with five unmarked gravestones)"

"There is no doubt in my mind that Obadiah Sowell, Sr.is the father of Isaac Sowell, grandfather of the Isaac Sowell who moved to Cherokee County. By the way, living in the same tax district in Bertie County is Eleazer Quimby (undoubtedly a relation to Mary Quimby) and Aaron Oliver (you will remember that Isaac of Cherokee names a son Aaron Oliver Sewell). Using Bertie County tax lists, court records and deed books, and "A History of the John Alexander and Laura Hilton Sowell Family" by Mary Sowell Hays and Carolyn E. Sowell: "Isaac Sowell (I) was the son of Obadiah Sowell, Sr. who was born in Chowan County, NC c. 1717 and died either in Moore County c. 1783 or in Bertie County in 1803 (I believe it was his son Obadiah Sowell, Jr. who died in 1803 but the information is inconclusive.) Obadiah Sowell, Sr. married first Mary Raynor, who would have been Isaac's mother, and second Ann Layton."

"Obadiah Sowell Sr. was the son of RICHARD SOWELL, JR. who was born c. 1700 in Chowan County, NC and died c. 1769 in either Bertie County or Hertford County (formed from Bertie in 1759). Richard Sowell, Jr. had three sons: Richard III who died in 1751, John Sr. (not to be confused with the John Sr. son of Isaac (I) whose sons moved to GA and Cherokee in the next century) who died c. 1755, and Obadiah Sowell Sr. (It is Richard Sowell Jr.'s son, John Sr. about whom the genealogy I referred to earliest was written.) Richard SOWELL, JR. was the son of Richard SOWELL, Sr. and Margaret Williams. Richard Sowell Sr. was born before 1685 probably in Chowan County NC (posibly in Virginia). He died sometime after 1642 and probably before 1656 in Bertie County, NC. His sons were Richard Jr. and Charles."

"Richard SOWELL Sr. was the son of CHARLES SOWELL who was born c. 1652 probably in VA (although possibly in Albemarle County, NC) and whose wife's name was Martha. Charles SOWELL died in Bertie County, NC in 1738. His children were: Richard, Sr., Thomas, Lewis, Charles, Elizabeth, Hannah, Mary and Sarah. CHARLES SOWELL almost definitely came from the eastern shore of VA as did most of the very early settlers of the shore of NC. However, information as to forebearers of CHARLES SOWELL is unclear in NC materials." ***

Death: Affidavits from: John McLeod of Montgomery County, NC and Hector McNeil of Moore County, NC, both of whom were soldiers in the American Service, confirmed that Isaac Sowell served as a private in the 2nd battalion of the NC Regiment commanded by Colonel John Armstrong in the company of Captain Elijah Moore. While encamped on Ashley Hill under the command of General Greene in South Carolina, he became ill, and was sent to the General Hospital to regain his health, but he soon died there. The Muster Rolls show date of his absence from duty November 25, 1782. He was buried at Ashley Hill Plantation, SC, a few miles north of Charleston, SC. John McLeod's affidavit was made 3 December 1806 in Moore County.

Cumberland County, NC, page 429, 430 date January 7, 1772, January Term 1772 shows Isaac Sowell purchased 300 acres from Jacob McLendon for the sum of 55 pounds, and the land was located on a branch of McLendons Creek called Black Creek. This track of land had been granted to Thomas Knight, who sold it to Jacob McLendon on July 25, 1772 for 35 pounds proclamation money.

Raleigh, NC Archives, Revolutionary Military Papers, John Sowell submits petition for land warrant to the General Assembly, dated December 5, 1806, was referred by the House of Commons and Senate of NC to committee, December 19, 1806. 640 acres was awarded for the military service and death of Isaac Sowell during the Revolutionary War.

Moore County Clerk of Superior Court Minutes Court of Pleas and Quarter Session 1784-1795, Administration on the Estate of Isaac Sowell granted to Mary Sowell, she giving William Barrett, Esq. surety in the sum of 50 pounds, specie. and was qualified accordingly. Isaac Sowell's inventory was filed by Mary Sowell at May Court 1785, which included one slave, two horses, nine head of cattle, an oxen, hogs, and various other personal property. The 300 acres of land was listed with no value assigned.

Seawell History Book by Leland McDonald:

In his book he says that Alexander Jakushevich, 4302 Tonawanda, Royal Oak, MI 48073 states Isaac Sowell and his wife Mary lived their lives in Cumberland, Moore, Bladen and Montgomery Counties and these counties are clustered close together. *** From: Mark Seawell seawell@nortel.ca To: keepmaster@msn.com Date: Friday, January 09, 1998 11:25 AM Subject: re:Sowell, Sewell, Seawell

Keith,

Good to hear from you. The only info I have is on my particular line. I have have the DOB and DOD from Isaac on down and have access to the tomb-stones to verify them. On your web site, you mention getting info from a Josie Seawell Daniels, all these dates should be in that document has well, except for maybe Isaac.

There is a monument for Isaac Sowell at Friendship Baptist Church here in Northern Moore county. I live just a couple miles from there. The monument list the his birth year as being 1741, he died the last November of the Revolutionary war, maybe 1783 I don't remember, in an army hospital near Charleston, SC and is buried there. This monument states Isaac's rank and regiment. It also list his wife and children. I am currently trying to get more info on who erected this monument and what info they may have about Isaac's ancestry.

My father and I logged into your site, I have never heard of these Richard's or Obadiah. My dad's first cousin who grew-up in the household with my great grandfather tells that Isaac's father was a Samuel, Grandfather a Joseph and great grandfather another Samuel. I have no proof whether or not this is true. We have found a Samuel - Joseph - Samuel II line that would fit date wise, just no proof.

I have always heard that Isaac sailed down here from Boston, his father in-law, a Quimby, owned ships that he used to travel here.

Nancy tells me she has info that Isaac's father in-law was an Isaac Quimby and that he was a sailor. So that much at least somewhat matches.

So really that's all I have at this time other than having acess to the cemetery and other Seawells. BTW, we pronounce the name "Suell".

In case I didn't tell you I am also a descendant of Isaac. Most of the Sowell's here changed the name I believe shortly after the Civil War. I have always heard the name was changed for reasons I won't go into now. But only recently have I heard it was due to the way Sowell was being pronounced.

Received your message on Christmas Day but have been very busy with family and Christmas.

Would be happy to give you Mark Seawell's email address as soon as I get permission from him. He lives in Carthage. He has mentioned 2 people in Carthage who are very much into genealogy--one has documented history and one has kept the oral history of the family. According to the cousin with the oral history, Isaac and another brother took part in the Boston Tea Party & then moved to NC to escape the British--that's when the name was changed to Sowell. Of course, Isaac and Asa are common names within the Seawell/Sowell family, so it might be difficult to trace who is who. By the way, Mark is also a descendent of Asa through his son, Jason, and I descend from his son, Quimby. Asa had 2 wives, and no one is sure of wife #1's name. ( Possible suggestions are Nancy Tucker, Katie Muse or Katie Quillin--do you know?)

The monument for Isaac (Mark spells it Issac) lists the dates as 1740/41 for birth and Nov., 1782 for date of death. The monument mentions where he served & his regiment in the Revolutionary War. This is all documented & was accepted for family members to become part of DAR. According to Mark, when Isaac came to NC, he left a son in Boston to be raised by his father-in-law as a Quimby, because the father-in-law had no sons.

According to the Seawell with the oral history, Issac's grandfather was named Joseph, and his great-grandfather was Samuel. Mark feels that Isaac's father was a second generation Samuel and that Isaac also had a brother named Samuel. This Samuel also fought in the Revolutionary War & had a son named Issac or Isaac. The first Samuel was brought to America by his father Henry in 1661 at the age of 9. Dates for this first Samuel were 1652 to 1730. This doesn't correspond with your information about Richard. Do you think we are talking about 2 different Isaac's & 2 different Asa's?

There's a possibility that the name was Sewall originally and that, on coming to NC, Issac changed the spelling to Sowell & his brother Samuel to Seawell. According to one source, the Sowells met at the courthouse in Carthage in 1866 and changed the name to Seawell over some family dispute. There are still some Sowells in Moore County, NC.

Other information I have I got from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I'm not a member, but I use their local family history center & am able to order microfilm from the library in Salt Lake City. I photocopied pages from the microfilm which was taken from a series of letters from Mrs. Josephine Seawell Daniels of Faison, NC. The letters seem to have been dated in the 1950's. I copied only those pages mentioning my ancestors. I think there were about 200 pages in all which is why I didn't copy them all. I also have a listing of Asa and many of his descendents that I received via a family member from James Seawell in Pinehurst, NC. I wrote to him after I received it, but never received an answer. I have 2 books of history of Moore County that mention many Seawells/Sowells.

I plan to go to Carthage this summer on vacation and will certainly be taking pictures of the graves in Friendship Baptist Church cemetery. (I'm a nursing instructor, so I have the whole summer off. My husband is retired, and we spend our vacation doing genealogy on both sides of the family.) ***

My aunt and I went to Carthage in April 2003 and with the help of some new Sewell cousins were able to find Friendship Baptist Church and the cemetery. It was disappointing to find that the original church had been burned down although it has been rebuilt and is located about a mile down a dirt/gravel road in the woods about 10 miles from Carthage. We took pictures of our deceased relatives. I noted some special tombstones that looked like angels that I wondered if one of our Sewell family carved. LH

The Sewells are from Wales, England, and near Gloucester County, Virginia. Tradition says there were 10 brothers who came to America. "SEWELL'S POINT" in Virginia is name for one of them. They scattered into North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and one went to Maine. Some Sewells settled near Denton and Davidson, N. C. on the Yadkin River. Source:Josie Daniels

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